Merry Christmas!

Snow Day!

Lauren has the best daddy

Jack-O-Lanterns

Ballet

Happy Birthday Jeff

Jeff's birthday was a couple weeks ago and Lauren and I made him this cake. We also made him peanut butter cookies to take along on the RV trip.
Lauren had it in her head that he needed a belt for his birthday (Jeff and I have no clue why...) so we got him a belt and a wallet. It was a nice quiet celebration, just his style.

Best Friends

Lauren and her best friend Mallory

Family room

Finally painted out family room grey this weekend. Our whole house is painted a neutral beige and I have been wanting to add color... Tada!

Car Dancing

PreK Week 1

Wow! So, Lauren is learning so much in her new class. She has work-book projects and homework- we have been bringing home a pile of stuff each day and she is thrilled and so challenged! She told me that if they all make good choices they are going to go on a field trip- maybe to the pumpkin patch! I love her new teacher Miss Allison, this is just a good, good thing!

Workbook from yesterday. She actually understood the rhyme part as was explaining to me why pot didnt rhyme.

She even had show-and-share yesterday and she told me she got to pick three children who had raised their hands to ask questions about her kitty she brought. This is amazing,  I love it!

1st Day of Pre-K

Lauren starts pre-K today in Miss Allison's room. She got to pick out a fancy dress and was all excited to go.  I just had to have her pose at the door like this- leave a comment if this picture reminds you of something....

Leadville Trail 100

Here we go- heading up to Leadville for Jeff's big race. Here is a link to the race webpage in case you would like more details. The short-and-sweet of it is that he will leave at 4am Saturday morning and attempt to run 100 miles through the mountains, up and over mountain passes. He has until 10am on Sunday to complete it, or he is done. His expected finish time is around 9am, but these types of things are hard to predict, a good portion of the people who attempt it will never finish.

I am going to try to post updates to facebook during the race, so consult fb if you are interested in how it is going. Good luck to us all- RUN JEFF RUN!!!

(to some people this is crazy, but for Jeff this is a long time dream of his. I am so proud of him for doing this, and cannot believe the strength and level of committment he has!)

Life is full of choices.....

... we control our destiny, when you head out into the world today, which one are you going to be?
 (after watching this cute video, I am going to guess you will have a smile on your face)

Summer Fun

Haircut

Today Lauren had a haircut at a children's salon (Jack and Jill)- so fun! It cost twice as much as I have ever paid, but she got to sit in a pink Hummer, watch the Lion King, and got a fancy hairstyle complete with glitter hairspray to boot. Totally worth the extra money, I think. We will be back!

4th of July

Lots of cook-outs with neighbors, my brother came to visit and a kid's bike parade! Who says there need to be fireworks? Colorado was a blast without it!

Chillin'

Enjoying a bowl of ice cream on the deck in Winter Park

Team name ideas- HELP!

Ok guys, I need everyones help here. I have been wracking my brain trying to think of a catchy team name for Jeff's big race. I need your ideas- all of them, lots of them! Please post or email to me. I have been thinking of "team soze" something that has "Jeff" in the name, or something catchy about hops (the beer making kind) like "fueled by hops" or something catchy. I am going to put it in the t shirts that I make for Jeff and all of the crew (yes- you should crew for him so that you can get a shirt)

Red Ride!

Last summer we went to Lakeside amusement park to go on kiddie rides. Lauren was so brave and wanted to ride the big rides, she loved the scrambler and really wanted to ride the Tilt-a-Whirl (aka Red Ride). Unfortunately she was about an inch too short and they didn't let her ride it. Well, she has spent all winter going to bed nicely and eating healthy food so she could grow tall enough for the red ride. It did not disappoint- we went last weekend when my mom was here and we had a blast. She rode the little kid tilt-a-whirl first, but it didn't compare to the real one. She screamed and laughed and loved every minute of it! (and so did i). We couldn't get a movie of it, but here is a pic of her next to it afterwards.

Let's go Rockies!

Singing in the rain....

The real meaning of MPH- The Original

This will crack you up!

Happy Memorial Day!

Lauren and I baked cookies for our next door neighbors and brought them over on cute plates with a note containing our contact info. There is an 90+ year old widower next door who uses a walker and we dont see out much (at all) who I thought needed our phone numbers and I asked him to share them with his family if that would make them feel more comfortable. Also, the chatty neighbor on the other side- feels like your next-door neighbors should know how to get in touch with you, right? Anyway, both neighbors had us in as their guests (totally unexpectedly) and it was a really fun day getting to know new people and see their homes. More "firsts" living in the 'burbs!

Playdate

Today Lauren had her first playdate. I got a call at 8am from a new neighbor of ours wondering if Lauren wanted to come over for a playdate this afternoon. Of course she did- it was at her new friend Mallory's house and she was wanting to see her. Then the worrying began- I dont really know the playdate ettiquite. Am I supposed to drop her off or stay with her while she is there? I phoned a few friends- all seemed as unsure as I was. Turns out I am the one adventuring into suburbia and I need to gather the info for our group of urban mommies. OK- so here is the skinny, I was supposed to just leave her. I found this out when Mallory the 3 year old asked her mom "why is Lauren's mommy still here?". That was my cue to ask Mallory's mommy what she expected, and she sent me away! Whew! Well I got that figured out (sort-of), now I am not sure on the ettiquite on when I return the favor? Any tips- how soon should I return the invite? When I picked L back up, I asked the mommy when I could return the favor and she was vague "whenever" so I am not sure what to do. I got laundry done, dinner organized and the kitchen cleaned up (glamorous use of time, I know) all while Lauren happily played at a neighbor's house. So, this is what its like in the 'burbs? Nice!

Power Pink

I promised Lauren that I would paint her new room pink, so tada! Here it is. I let her pick out the paint chip- not sure I will take that strategy again. When she first saw it she said "wow! It's so colorful! I love it! Why isn't the ceiling pink? Can you paint the ceiling too?"

Pink sand

Ok, so I found this pink sand at WalMart and thought it would be awesome. Well, Lauren loves it, but man! does it make a mess!

Rockies game

Big girl bed

Lauren has a new full sized "princess" bed and pretty bedding- so sweet! I haven't gotten her room painted pink yet, but she is loving it!

IKEA

Turns out it is even MORE fun when dad comes along!

Moving day

House sold- check!
Closed on new house-check!
Granny Nanny on duty-check! (she is getting Oreos for breakfast - but is loving every minute and not feeling the stress of the move)
New carpet cleaned-check!
Boxes packed -check!
New neighbors came over with their family (incl CPR certified babysitting 15 yr old) and all their cellphone numbers to welcome us- truly priceless!

Question:

Q: If you packed a suitcase with only shoes, how much would it weigh?
A: so far, suitcase number 1 is bad... Don't try to take this in a plane!!

Photo shoot

This morning before I went to work I brought Lauren to Target for pictures. I didn't have very high expectations, but I had a Groupon I needed to use. Well, they turned out super cute and I cannot wait to share!

Croup, moving, working too much

Lauren has been sick with croup, and I have been generally overwhelmed with everything about the move and home sale/ purchase. Jeff and I are sticking to the original bargain- I am the one who wanted to move so I get to do it all myself while he focuses on running. He also has a cold (and is not quite the trouper that Lauren is) too.
We cancelled our home phone, so be sure you have our cell phone numbers. I plan to send out "change of address" cards too . Oh boy....

Happy Easter!

I scream, you scream

We all scream for vegan ice cream!
Vegan= non-dairy, and they had it in chocolate! Yummy